Re: One more quack!

["Marci Cunningham" <mcunningham@calcot.com>]

I was at the ride meeting and heard Dave's 'speech'.  I don't think it was
as bad as everyone is making it out to be.  It was his typical 'you are
responsible for your horse' speech with a few comments about the length of
rides thrown in.  As far as him intimidating new riders, he emphasized the
point that the vets were there to help riders get through the ride and that
riders shouldn't be afraid about bringing up their concerns about their
horse.  He offered to answer questions the next day as long as the vet line
wasn't backed up.  Heck, he even said that in the early days, 50 mile rides
were looked down on since only 100 mile rides were true endurance which was
one of the reasons he didn't join AERC as soon as it was organized since
they were going to sanction 50 mile rides.  That certainly didn't hurt my
feelings.  He also qualified his experience as having his 1,000 mile Tevis
buckle before AERC was organized.  As previous posters have written, maybe
we all need thicker skin to keep our egos from getting bruised, or as Jim
Mitchell has suggested, become ride managers and really learn how
financially rewarding putting on endurance rides can be.

I remember seeing the postcards that the Duck sent out years ago about his
point to point XP rides.  What a hoot!  He has never been PC and he never
will be.  With Dave, what you see is what you get and I don't think it well
ever keep ride management from hiring him as their head vet.

Happy Trails
Marci Cunningham
AERC #1455